From National Sports Talk to the Management Office, Gelb Takes the Brand Manager Chair at Miami’s Sports Radio 560
There is something wonderfully unpredictable about the broadcasting business. One minute you’re sitting behind a microphone telling listeners why their favorite football team couldn’t find the end zone with a GPS, a flashlight and three assistant coaches. The next minute, somebody hands you the keys to an entire radio station and expects you to make sure the people doing the yelling actually show up for work.
Welcome back to Audacy, Zach Gelb. And welcome to Miami, where sports fans have strong opinions, the Dolphins provide enough conversation to power a small country, and the difference between a great sports radio station and an ordinary one often comes down to the personalities willing to tell listeners something they don’t necessarily want to hear.
Audacy has named Zach Gelb Brand Manager of Sports Radio 560 WQAM and its 104.3 FM simulcast in South Florida, bringing a familiar voice back into the company’s programming leadership ranks.
The appointment represents another chapter in a career that has taken Gelb through some of the most demanding sports radio environments in America. But this time, the assignment is different. He’s not simply responsible for delivering a compelling show.
He’s responsible for helping shape the sound, strategy and competitive identity of an established Miami sports radio brand.
The Man Knows His Way Around a Microphone
Gelb’s relationship with Audacy stretches back to his years with Infinity Sports Network, where he worked from 2018 through the end of 2025.
During that run, he hosted overnight, nighttime and afternoon programming, building experience in national sports talk and developing the kind of on-air instincts that come from dealing with unpredictable callers, breaking sports stories and the occasional fan who believes a 2–8 football team is just one coaching adjustment away from the Super Bowl.
He also spent time with SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio and NFL Radio in 2019 and 2020.
Before his national exposure, Gelb worked as Program Director and afternoon host at Townsquare Media’s 920 The Jersey, WNJE in Trenton, New Jersey.
And his résumé includes appearances on some of the biggest sports radio brands in the country, including WFAN in New York, WIP in Philadelphia and WEEI in Boston.
Those are not exactly forgiving places to learn the business.
In Philadelphia, a caller can love you at 2:15 and question your entire family tree by 2:17.
In New York, everybody believes they should be running the Yankees.
And in Boston, the sports arguments have been going on so long that some of the callers may have inherited their opinions from their grandparents.
If you can navigate those markets and maintain your composure, Miami shouldn’t scare you. Although South Florida traffic might.
From the Talk Show to the Corner Office
Gelb’s appointment also highlights something worth discussing across the industry: the value of placing experienced broadcasters in programming leadership.
There was a time when the most successful program directors were often people who had spent years in studios, production rooms and control booths. They understood what happened when the microphone opened because they had been on the other side of it.
That experience still matters.
A sports radio brand isn’t built exclusively through research reports, promotional campaigns or perfectly formatted programming clocks.
It’s built through relationships.
Listeners develop relationships with hosts. Hosts develop relationships with their communities. And a strong programmer understands how to protect those connections while continually finding ways to improve the product.
Gelb now has an opportunity to apply his national experience to a market where professional sports, college athletics and passionate fan bases provide a seemingly endless supply of programming material.
Miami is not a sleepy sports town.
The Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers and Hurricanes all give local broadcasters plenty to discuss.
And when things go wrong?
Well, that’s when sports radio really starts earning its money.
WQAM Has History, and History Comes With Expectations
WQAM is a familiar name in South Florida broadcasting, with a sports radio identity that has served generations of Miami listeners.
That history is an asset, but it also creates expectations.
A heritage station cannot rely exclusively on its reputation. It must continually demonstrate why listeners should choose it when they have access to podcasts, streaming programs, social media commentary and countless national sports personalities.
The competition isn’t simply another signal on the dial anymore.
It’s everything available through a smartphone.
For Gelb, that means the challenge extends beyond the traditional responsibilities of scheduling talent and maintaining programming consistency.
The opportunity is to help WQAM remain relevant in a media environment where sports fans expect immediate reaction, recognizable personalities and content they can consume wherever they happen to be.
The best sports radio doesn’t just report the score. It gives the audience a reason to care about the conversation after the game is over.
A Familiar Face, a Different Assignment
There is also an interesting full-circle element to Gelb’s return.
He spent years building his on-air career within the national sports radio operation that Audacy previously managed. That network subsequently transitioned to Westwood One Sports Radio at the beginning of 2026, following Cumulus Media’s assumption of operations.
Now Gelb is back with Audacy in a local-market leadership role.
And while moving from national hosting to station management may sound like trading a microphone for a spreadsheet, anyone who has ever programmed a radio station knows the microphone is usually the easier part.
Hosts have opinions.
Sales departments have expectations.
Corporate offices have budgets.
Listeners have complaints.
And somehow the Brand Manager is supposed to keep everybody happy while delivering ratings, revenue opportunities and a product that sounds effortless.
Zach, congratulations. You’ve officially entered the part of broadcasting where everybody has an idea, everybody needs something, and somehow the coffee machine is your problem.
The On The Dial Perspective
Audacy’s decision to bring Gelb into WQAM’s programming leadership is a reminder that the next generation of radio management doesn’t necessarily have to come from outside the studio.
Sometimes the people who understand the product best are the people who have spent years creating it.
Gelb arrives with national experience, familiarity with major sports radio markets and previous programming responsibilities.
Those credentials provide a foundation.
What happens next will depend on how effectively he translates that experience into a distinctive South Florida radio product.
Because Miami doesn’t need another station that simply sounds like everybody else.
It needs personalities, local relevance, compelling conversations and the kind of creative programming that reminds audiences why live radio remains worth their attention.
Congratulations to Zach Gelb on his return to Audacy and his new assignment at WQAM.
The microphone helped build his career.
Now he gets to help determine what comes out of everybody else’s.
And Zach, one final piece of advice from a fellow broadcaster:
When the Dolphins lose, don’t schedule your staff meeting immediately after the postgame show. Nobody needs that kind of negativity before lunch.
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